Fulham WI

FWI September Meeting: preserving the beauty of the natural and man-made world

Monday 5th September, from 7.30pm at The Peterborough

New members always welcome!

This promises to be yet another fantastic meeting with some really high-quality speakers, who will be:

Scott Cooper, Director of Fulham Palace

Fulham Palace is an extraordinary place. Home to the Bishops of London for over 1300 years, the Palace's charming Tudor and Georgian courtyards nestle gracefully amongst 13 acres of peaceful botanic gardens on a reach of the Thames where Fulham slowly ebbs in Chelsea, just yards from Putney Bridge.

The Palace has been leased by Hammersmith and Fulham Council since it was vacated by the Bishops in 1975. However, despite the Council's best efforts the building lay underused for over three decades. But this changed with the award of a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and a major programme of phased restoration works at last began in 2005. The Palace re-opened as a notable cultural attraction in late 2006. The first phase of works recently beat other major, high-profile projects such as the restoration of St. Pancras station and the Royal Festival Hall, to win the prestigious RSC London Awards for building conservation.

This talk, presented by the Palace's Director, will present an overview of the works and outline the challenges presented in the re-use of one of London's most important buildings.

Dr David Jones: The Ecology of Tropical Rainforests

Tropical rainforests are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. These forests help to regulate the global climate, and are essential for the provision of clean water supplies. Scientists are gradually beginning to quantify how these complex systems function. In this talk David will outline the current understanding of rainforest ecology, and he will describe some of the current issues that surround their long-term survival.

David works at the Natural History Museum in London. He is a tropical ecologist specialising in rainforest insects. His research has taken him to Borneo, New Guinea, Africa, Madagascar; as well as Latin America. He has published more than 40 research articles in scientific journals, and is recognised as one of the world's leading experts in his field.

Important Reminder: 5th Birthday Party tickets

The September meeting will be the last chance to buy tickets (in person) to our 5th Birthday Party (£10 members, £20 non-members). You will however, still be able to buy tickets by post please email Joanna Hackett for details.

5th Birthday Party!

Celebrating Five Fabulous Years of Fulham Women's Institute!

This September Fulham WI reaches the grand old age of five years!

Since its inception our WI has, amongst other things, raised over £20,000 for local Fulham charities; reinstated many of the traditional yet long-lost highlights of the WI (jam making especially!) and has welcomed over 300 young women to our lively monthly meetings.

To celebrate our first milestone birthday, Fulham WI is holding a garden party on Sunday 21st September at Pryors Bank Cafe, Bishops Park, Fulham (for a location details click here) from 5.30-8.30pm. We are selling tickets to this event and would absolutely love all our friends, family and people who have supported us over the years to come along.

Tickets are priced at a very reasonable £10 for members and £20 for non-members and can be purchased from Joanna Hackett. The party will include a barbecue, drinks, garden games and maybe even some dancing...

It would be great to see as many people as possible, so please come along and raise a glass to Fulham WI and all we've achieved.